Why are living humans so intrigued about what happens after we die? Why do we think that the world of the dead is like a shadowy world of the living? Why are people enthralled by stories of ghosts? For some, the great unknown becomes a growing itch that needs to be scratched. The unknown of what comes next becomes so terrifying that some folks with money and resources to spare will go through great lengths to cheat death. Thus begins a quest for the magic pill, the elixir of life, the holy grail, the philosopher’s stone, and let’s not forget the name Voldermort chose for himself and his obsession with exploring deeper magic.
Jonathan Stroud taps into this longing more explicitly in the fourth book of his Lockwood & Co series, The Creeping Shadow. It’s an apt title. There is a ghostly apparition that takes on the title, and Lockwood’s intrepid team are hired to suss out this particular manifestation of The Problem. But the title could also refer to that fear of mortality coming upon the aged, looking for a way to stave off aging and death. The Problem – the sudden increased appearances of hauntings and ghosts in England – is the backdrop for Lockwood & Co, and we get more of a glimpse in this fourth book of its potential origins.
To get rid of a ghost, one needs to find its Source – often the bones of the deceased but not always – and wrap it with silver. These sources or relics are then destroyed by placing them in a fiery furnace. The challenge is that only children and youth can see the apparitions, and thus they have to be the investigators to locate and disable the ghosts. Their weapons and protection are chemical: salt, iron, silver, and magnesium for explosive effect. The team’s historian cum scientist, George Cubbins, discusses the situation they are facing when there is an outbreak of ghosts: “… ordinary Sources represent weak points, where Visitors can slip through from… wherever it is they ought to be. Imagine them as holes worn in an old fabric. Like when the seat of your jeans wears through… The fabric gets tin, then stringy, then widens to an actual hole… [then] something else comes through.”
Implicit in the argument is that there is a place for the dead and a place for the living. When the wall between the two begins to break down, that’s when Problems begin. Apparitions pass into the world of the living – and can be deadly with ghost-touch. But the journey could proceed in the opposite direction. And in Book 4, we get a glimpse of what it might be like on the other side. As far back as Homer, we have imbibed the idea that the world of the dead is like the world of the living, only fainter, shadier, colder, and less energetic. It’s where Hades rules. The living are not welcome. But intrepid adventurers trying to reverse death make the journey. Thus, we have Orpheus in the Underworld. Or a group of kids visiting the Upside Down in Stranger Things.
The young think they have forever. The older and more aged – they’re the ones worrying about how to cheat death. We see this more starkly in The Creeping Shadow. The adults are up to no good, trying to follow in the footsteps of Orpheus – maybe to find a solution to the malady of entropy triumphant. Interestingly, the book features two groups of adults: The aptly named Orpheus society is a hard-to-access ivory tower akin to academics studying The Problem. But in competition is an Institute churning out weapons, defenses, sensors, and other doodads – an industrial counterpart that’s exploring The Problem while trying to profit from it. The researchers are referred to as scientists. I suppose that’s what science does. We scientists are constantly poking our nose into the unseen. We want to know the unseen mysterious forces that govern the world and perhaps tame them into technology. The science of aging is big money today as it was during the days of patronage to alchemists. We don’t have the art and music of Orpheus to gain access to Hades’ kingdom, but we have our tools of science nevertheless to follow in his footsteps.
I cannot help but feel that we have a lack of imagination when it comes to the afterlife. Why should it be a paler version of life? The version of the scientist is no better. When you hit thermodynamic equilibrium, there is no longer any free energy to do any work. That would be a very boring place to be. So if Stroud and others can drum up excitement for the adventures between the dead and undead, who am I to complain? I certainly have enjoyed his books so far.
P.S. It looks like the adventures of Lockwood & Co are shaping up to a dramatic conclusion in the fifth and final book. I just need to be patient and wait for my library copy to arrive!
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